Africa

This page is the overview of Africa content on this site.
I am "hooked on Africa" and this is where I collect my
own "hobby research" of photos, video, articles, links and
other views on Africa. Please note this is a personal homepage: If
nothing else is written, the text on this site
reflects my
personal opinion. Enjoy!

The second largest continent in the world has an exotic ring to many
people, but Africa is much more than wildlife and breathtaking nature.
More important:
Africa is much more than the images of famine and war we often see in the international
media. Africa is not one country with a uniform culture. Africa is
very rich diversity on culture, traditions, languages, history and
ideas. Africa has
much to offer to those who are ready to listen.

Other

What is Africa?

A few thoughts to begin with...

Africa is the second largest continent in the world. The area of
Africa can contain all of USA, China, India, New Zealand, Europe and
a bit
more. Around 748 million people live in Africa. That is only a bit
more than live in Europe.

Africa is the cradle of human evolution. Contrary
to what many believe, Africa has a history going much further back
than the age of colonisation. Actually the African history
goes further back than anywhere else in the world. Traces of humans
in Eastern and Southern Africa are the oldest in the world. In 1988
scientific Mitochondria-research proved that every living
human being origins from the same woman in Africa about 200.000
years ago! Let me repeat just to get it right once and for all: white man and EVERY other human being on planet earth originates from the African continent!

Africa is the cradle of civilisation. Africa has an old and rich cultural
heritage including very old civilisations in Egypt and Nubia, the Great Zimbabwe,
Ashante kingdoms, Dogon people and other ancient tribes. Culture, civilisation
and large cities were in Africa before ANY kind of foreign influence.
Africa had the first university in the world.

Africa had religions long before Christianity and Islam came to the
continent. The original religions are in many aspects social and cultural
arrangements. Some rituals are very gentle or even poetic, and far
less
"primitive" than the dominating world religions.

Africa and many of its people has suffered a lot through times and
still does in some places. The African people are strong and proud.

Africa offers many of the most beautiful places in the world. Including
an overwhelming biodiversity of nature and animal life.

Africa consists of more than 50 different countries, with more than
1,500 different languages (not counting dialects). There are just as
many different cultures.

Africa is far more than famine, diseases and war. Africa
is a resource, not "a problem". We in the West
and North are very busy exporting our ideas
to Africa. We often forget to listen and learn.

"Africa" – a great and problematic word

the Africa pages on crawfurd.dk

The Africa section on the Crawfurd Homepage is regularly updated and
extended. With these pages I would like to do my small part in opening the
continent for a
new
kind of explorers: People who doesn't want to exploit, colonise
or mission - but to dig into Africa for cross-cultural understanding,
appreciation and respect.
I hope my site will inspire you to read more, learn more, travel more
and maybe most important: make new friends across borders. These
pages have more than 2500 visitors every day and many has chosen to give
me
a great feedback. On a personal
level this has given me
new knowledge and new friendships.

I am aware that covering "Africa" is
really a project far too ambitious for a personal website managed by a single individual. I will never
be able to even touch all that I would
like to
-and
I am not an expert or authority on the subject. But... hey! It's a start
and
several
e-mails have convinced me that I share this passion and fascination with many
others all over the world. I am also doing my best to keep the site
updated with links to other relevant sites on the web.